Climate Zones
Understand that Earth has distinct climate zones, tropical (hot and wet near the equator), temperate (moderate, with four seasons), polar (freezing cold), arid/desert (very dry), and mountain (cold at high altitude), and that each zone supports different ecosystems and ways of life
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name and describe at least four climate zones
- Explain what determines which zone a place belongs to (mainly latitude and geography)
- Give an example of how a climate zone affects the plants, animals, or people living there
1 · Read
You already know that geography and sunlight shape the weather where you live. Earth also has big regions called climate zones. Each zone has its own lasting weather pattern that stays about the same year after year, not just for a day or a season.
Near the equator sits the tropical zone: hot and rainy all year. Farther from the equator is the temperate zone, with four seasons and a swing between hot summers and cold winters. Close to the North and South Poles is the polar zone, freezing cold almost every day. Some places are dry instead of wet. The arid or desert zone gets very little rain, whether hot or cold. High up on tall mountains, the mountain zone stays cold no matter how close to the equator it is, because the air gets colder as you climb.
Picture three places: the Amazon rainforest, the Sahara desert, and the Arctic. The Amazon sits near the equator, so it is tropical: hot, rainy, and packed with plants and animals that need all that water. The Sahara sits in a dry band, so almost no plants grow there and animals like camels survive with little water. The Arctic sits at the top of the world, so it is polar: freezing and mostly ice, with animals like polar bears built for the cold instead of the heat.
To guess a place's climate zone, ask two questions: how close is it to the equator, and how high up is it? Latitude and altitude together decide most of what a zone feels like.
Earth's climate zones, like tropical, temperate, polar, desert, and mountain, come mostly from latitude and geography, and each one shapes the plants, animals, and people that live there.
More to read
Tropical rainforest biomes
A biome is a special kind of ecosystem. Each biome has its own climate, and the climate decides which plants can grow there. The plants and climate together decide which animals live there too.
One of the most amazing biomes on Earth is the tropical rainforest. It grows in the tropical climate zone, near the equator. This biome has four main features: it gets a lot of rain every year, it stays warm all year long, its soil is not very rich in nutrients, and it is home to an enormous number of living things.
Because it is always warm and wet, plants grow fast and tall. Tall trees form a leafy roof called a canopy, and smaller plants grow underneath. All those plants give food and homes to monkeys, colorful birds, insects, frogs, and many other animals. More kinds of living things live in tropical rainforests than in almost any other place on Earth.
Key points: Terrestrial biomes
A biome is a community of plants and animals that live in a certain climate and are suited to it. Many of Earth's biomes are terrestrial, which means they are on land.
Two things mostly decide what a land biome is like: temperature and rainfall. Warm, wet places become very different biomes from cold, dry places.
Tropical rainforests grow at latitudes near the equator. There, temperatures stay high and rain falls all through the year. This warm, wet climate lets thick forests grow and gives homes to more kinds of plants and animals than almost anywhere else.
Farther from the equator, the climate changes, and so does the biome. Cooler places with moderate rain grow temperate forests with trees that lose their leaves in autumn. Very dry places become deserts, where only tough plants like cacti survive. The coldest places near the poles become tundra, where the ground is frozen and only small, hardy plants can live.
Tangata whenua
Long ago, Pacific Islanders sailed across the ocean and settled in Aotearoa New Zealand. Getting there was only the first challenge. They brought their Pacific culture with them, along with some crops, Pacific rats, and dogs.
But the climate of New Zealand is very different from the tropical islands they came from. Back home, it was warm all year. New Zealand has changing seasons, temperate forests, glaciers, and snowy mountains. The old ways of living did not all work in this new climate.
So the settlers had to adapt. They learned which new foods to grow and gather, how to dress for colder weather, and how to live through winter. Over time, these changes helped shape the distinct Maori culture.
The climate of a place does not just affect plants and animals. It also shapes how people live, what they eat, what they wear, and the traditions they build.
Supplemental Materials: Physical Geography
Physical geography is the study of Earth's dynamic systems: its air, water, weather, climate, landforms, rocks, soils, plants, and ecosystems. It also looks at how people interact with all of these systems.
Physical geography helps you understand the world around you. It explains why San Francisco is often cold and foggy, why earthquakes happen, and what causes the seasons. It also explains why one place can be a steamy rainforest while another place, at the same time of year, is a frozen polar plain or a dry desert.
Every single day, you interact with Earth's systems, whether you notice it or not. The air you breathe, the water you drink, and the weather outside your window are all part of physical geography.
Can Planting Trees Fix Climate Change? (Plants & Biomes): Crash Course Botany #14
Earth has many different kinds of biomes, like deserts, savannas, and tropical rainforests. Each one exists because of its climate. Deserts are very dry, savannas are warm grasslands with a rainy season and a dry season, and tropical rainforests are hot and rainy all year.
Plants have an important job in every one of these biomes. Through photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen. They also give food and shelter to animals. In a way, plants help make the world go round.
Because plants store carbon, some people wonder if planting more trees could help slow down climate change. Trees do soak up carbon dioxide as they grow, so protecting forests really does help. But different biomes are suited to different plants, and planting trees works best where trees naturally belong. Taking care of all of Earth's biomes, in all their climate zones, is part of keeping the whole planet healthy.
2 · Watch
به انگلیسیTake it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.